Tensions heighten between Hackel and commissioners

The heightened tensions between County Executive Mark Hackel and the Board of Commissioners may reach a new level in the coming weeks as board Chairman Dave Flynn puts forth an ordinance that will mandate far more detail within the county budget and quarterly financial reports than the Hackel administration has provided so far.

Flynn’s proposed county ordinance, announced at last week’s board meeting, would require the Hackel administration to submit information for each department on: employee wages, health benefits, pension set-asides, overtime pay, the number of full-time employees, part-time workers and temporary employees.

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Government transparency, Flynn said, is the issue at hand.

“There are a number of options we have under our authority in the (county) charter, and as policy-makers we will decide the best course to provide more transparency,” said the Sterling Heights Democrat.

Commissioners have blanched as county Finance Director Pete Provenzano repeatedly presents annual budgets and quarterly reports in which much of the financial information is capsulized in a category simply called “personnel,” without any context.

Yet, Hackel administration officials say that their budget format provides more details than the finance materials routinely presented to the commissioners prior to the 2009 voter approval of the county charter, when the board held all legislative and executive powers.

Deputy Executive Mark Deldin said the commissioners are disguising their true intentions.

“This is not about transparency, this is about control,” Deldin said. “We … see it as an attempt by the commissioners to micromanage the departments.”

Deldin describes Flynn’s demands as “overkill” and unreasonable because a 20-page quarterly report would grow to about 200 pages. Last year, when some commissioners complained about a lack of specifics in the proposed 2013 budget, the Hackel administration responded with 3,000 pages of additional material.

Flynn, who had pledged to forge a cooperative relationship with the executive’s office when his colleagues selected him as board chairman in January, said the proposed ordinance would also require board approval of all building construction and renovation projects before the bidding process begins.

He said the new rules would be drafted in a preliminary text by the board’s independent counsel and would be presented to the 13-member board for approval in two to three weeks.

Deldin said a number of productive meetings on budget disclosures had taken place behind the scenes with Flynn and top administration officials and he thought progress was being made.

But when Provenzano presented the 2013 first quarter report last Thursday, the commissioners expressed dissatisfaction.

Commissioner Joe Sabatini, a Macomb Township Republican who is a CPA and corporate comptroller, said he was disappointed that his numerous requests for format changes in budget materials had been ignored. Sabatini said the finance documents lack proper comparisons to past revenues and expenditures and that “every company in the world does it that way.”

Provenzano may have precipitated Flynn’s push for new budget mandates when he responded to the commissioners’ criticisms with this: “I will bring back your concerns and wishes and we’ll see if that leads to more discussion.”

If the board approves a budget ordinance, Hackel has the power under the charter to veto it. The commissioners can then override the veto with a two-thirds majority.

According to Deldin, the issue has been blown out of proportion because only one or two commissioners routinely request more budget information, and they are supplied addendums and detailed documents quickly.